Drinks distributor Edrington-beam Suntory to set up home in Glasgow

● News of the letting comes after city’s office take-up hits record high in first-half

The first tenant has signed up for space at a major office development in Glasgow city centre following a multi-million-pound makeover.

Drinks distributor Edrington-beam Suntory UK Distribution, formerly known as Maxxium UK, has taken the entire fourth floor of 191 West George Street, extending to more than 15,000 square feet, on a 15-year lease. The firm is set to relocate from its current base in Castle Business Park, Stirling, in the autumn following a period of fitting-out.

Edrington-beam Suntory UK was formed 18 years ago and manages the sales, marketing and distribution in the UK for a string of iconic whisky and spirits brands including Jim Beam, The Macallan, Laphroaig, The Famous Grouse and Courvoisier.

Neville Ross, the firm’s finance director, said: “This central location will base us in the heart of one of the UK’S largest and most vibrant and dynamic cities, placing us closer to our shareholders, Edrington and Beam Suntory, and to many great customers and over one million consumers.”

Tom Foley, NFU Mutual asset manager, added: “Launching a building of this quality and scale in Glasgow city centre is a real achievement and we’re proud to have delivered a high quality result.”

The letting follows completion of a major refurbishment programme at the building in the city’s central business district. The £5.5 million project created 87,000 sq ft of Grade A office space over six levels.

NFU Mutual was represented by JLL in the transaction while Mark Allan Property Consultants acted for Edrington-beam Suntory UK.

News of the deal came as it was revealed that Glasgow’s office market had hit a firsthalf high.

Research from property consultancy CBRE Scotland showed that 330,963 sq ft of office space was transacted in the second quarter, bringing the total take-up for the first half of 2018 to 593,901 sq ft.

The figure marks the highest six-month total ever recorded for Glasgow on a data series that goes back to 1992 and breaks the previous record of 532,634 sq ft set in the first half of 2007.

The market was bolstered in the latest period by two significant pre-lets – HM Revenue & Customs taking 187,205 sq ft at Atlantic Square and CBRE securing 110,955 sq ft for Clydesdale Bank at 177 Bothwell Street.

Audreydobson,seniordirector in the advisory and transaction services team, said: “Historically, we normally get a pre-let once every five years, so to have two announced during H1 is very unusual.”